PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Ezekiel Ambrose (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Marcus Grant (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Ambrose comes to the cage accompanied by Amos Moses - Primus. Both these guys have solid standup skills and neither is particularly fantastic on the ground, so let's hope for a nice standup war!

Ambrose
vs
Grant

188 cm
20
195 lbs
6 - 0 - 0

185 cm
28
193 lbs
13 - 7 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Very strong

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the middleweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 6 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Ezekiel Ambrose!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 13 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Marcus Grant!
The judges for this bout are Daniel Franklin, George Francis and Wesley Smith.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ambrose tries to clinch there but Grant circles away.
Grant tries to move into range but Ambrose moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Grant avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Sloppy strikes from Ambrose. Those never looked like landing.
Ambrose pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.
Ambrose throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Grant sees it coming and avoids it easily.
A jab lands there for Grant.
Grant throws a nice head kick!
Ezekiel Ambrose seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Ambrose looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Ambrose wants to clinch up but Grant keeps it at a distance.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Grant slips a jab and a cross from Ambrose.
Grant throws the left hand but Ambrose avoids the punch easily.
Ambrose moves out of range of the leg kick from Grant.
Grant misses with an attempted mid kick.
A jab from Grant misses.
Grant swats away the attempt to clinch by Ambrose.
Grant throws a hook but Ambrose blocks it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Grant throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Ambrose slips under a jab from Grant.
Grant ducks under a wild hook from Ambrose.
Ambrose tries to land a body kick
and Grant counters with an outside leg kick.
Ambrose throws a jab when Grant was well out of range.
A punch combination from Ambrose misses.
Ambrose tries to close the distance and clinch but Grant swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Grant walks into a stiff left hand from Ambrose.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ambrose throws a big shot that misses.
Grant misses with a wild combination.
Ambrose swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Ambrose misses with a straight right.
Ambrose scores with the left hand. Grant knows he should have avoided that one.
Ambrose fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Ambrose checks the leg kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ambrose throws a leg kick that is checked
and Grant makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.
Ambrose thows a body shot but no joy.
Ambrose cracks Grant with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
Ambrose throws an overhand right that lands on Grant's shoulder, as Grant tries to avoid the shot.
Grant jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Ambrose lands a nice shot that snaps Grant's head back.
Ambrose lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ezekiel Ambrose dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Grant moves out of range as Ambrose strikes.
Ambrose throws a big shot that misses.
Ambrose wants to clinch up but Grant keeps it at a distance.
Grant throws a right hand that Ambrose ducks under and follows up with a left that Ambrose also avoids with ease.
Ambrose misses with an uppercut. Grant saw that one coming.
Grant stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Ambrose ducks under a wild hook from Grant.
A slow jab from Grant misses its intended target.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ambrose lands a lovely overhand right.
Ambrose throws a right hand that Grant ducks under and follows up with a left that Grant also avoids with ease.
Both fighters are looking to counter, which isn't making for the most exciting fight in the world.
Ambrose listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.
Ambrose throws a hook but Grant blocks it.
Grant throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Ambrose sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Ambrose lands a nice hook to Grant's body. Grant takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Ambrose rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Grant moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Ambrose throws a one two combo.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ambrose throws a leg kick
and Grant connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Ambrose throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Ambrose misses with a double jab
and Grant counters with a two punch combo.
Ambrose throws a hook to the side of Grant's head but Grant sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Grant throws a combination. Ambrose tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
Ambrose lands a slapping body shot.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Ambrose is looking to clinch but Grant is avoiding it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ambrose connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.
Ambrose throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Grant looks to land a body kick but Ambrose moved away.
A head kick misses from Grant.
Ambrose walks forward and throws out a flicking leg kick. Grant checks it nicely though, as he moves to the side.
Ambrose looks to land a left hand but Grant moved out of range nicely.
Grant misses with a two punch combination.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Grant misses with an uppercut. Ambrose saw that one coming.
Ezekiel Ambrose is winning the standup battle so far.
Grant missing with a left hand there. Ambrose was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Grant circles away from the clinch attempt
and Grant counters with a one-two to the body.
Ambrose moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Sloppy strikes from Ambrose. Those never looked like landing.
Ambrose ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ezekiel Ambrose dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

A jab from Ambrose misses.
Grant missing with a left hand there. Ambrose was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Grant scores with a three punch combo!
Ambrose misses with a double jab
and Grant counters with a left to the body.
Ambrose misses with a hook. Grant ducked under it nicely.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Ambrose avoids a kick to the body.
Grant misses with the combination.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Grant ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Ambrose moves away.
Ezekiel Ambrose is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Ambrose moves out of range of the strikes.
Grant throws a looping overhand right but Ambrose ducks down to avoid it.
Ambrose throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Grant.
Ambrose misses with a wild combination.
Ambrose throws a leg kick
and Grant counters with a flying knee. Nice.
Grant pushing out the jab but it's not landing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Ambrose misses with a jab, cross combination.
Ambrose throws a hook to the side of Grant's head but Grant sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Ambrose checks a leg kick.
Ambrose bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Ambrose bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Grant lands with a right hand.
Ambrose throws a nice looking combination but Grant bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Grant misses the jab.
Ambrose tries to close the distance and clinch but Grant swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
A swing and a miss from Ambrose.
Grant lands a nice shot to the body.
Ambrose throws a jab but it's blocked by Grant.
Ambrose misses with a straight right.
Ambrose swings away with a body shot that misses
and Grant counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
A jab from Ambrose does it's job there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A decent looking body kick lands there for Grant.
Grant swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Ambrose makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Ambrose avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Ambrose scores with a jab to the body.
Ambrose connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Grant misses with a few strikes there.
Ambrose just misses with a punch to the body.
Ambrose misses with a straight right.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but Ezekiel Ambrose did the better work so I'd imagine he'll take it.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Ambrose is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Grant throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Ambrose swings away with a body shot that misses
and Grant cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Ambrose misses with a looping right.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Grant wants to slow Ambrose down by chopping away at his legs.
Grant thows a left - swing and a miss!
Grant lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ambrose lands a body shot.
Grant takes a jab on the nose. He smiles like he loves it and keeps coming.
Ambrose tries to clinch up
enabling Grant to counter with a crisp jab.
Ambrose throws a series of punches but Grant moves out of range.
Ambrose uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Grant.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Grant misses with a head kick.
Grant avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Ambrose lands a body shot.
Ambrose blocks a head kick by Grant.
Grant buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Nice defenses there by Grant.
Ambrose works over Grant's head and body with a nice combination.
A slow jab from Ambrose misses its intended target.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ambrose swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Grant fakes a jab and throws a low kick but Ambrose checks it well.
Ambrose throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Ambrose takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Grant jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Ambrose swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Ambrose misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Grant misses with a series of wild punches.
Grant misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
A left lands for Ambrose.
A shot to the liver by Ambrose. Beautiful body shot.
Ambrose moves out of range of the body kick.
Ambrose throws a predictable looking body shot
and Grant counters with a head kick.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ezekiel Ambrose had his way with Marcus Grant in that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Ambrose throws a combination that misses
and Grant counters with a straight right hand.
Grant swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
letting Ambrose counter with a right hand.
Nice uppercut lands for Ambrose. That snapped Grant's head back.

Grant is rocked!
Ambrose lands with a precision combination! Left, right, uppercut and Grant falls flat on his face, eyes wide open but he's out!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:30 of round 5, we have a winner by way of KO (Punches). Ezekiel Ambrose!
Ezekiel Ambrose retains his middleweight title!